Before the Fall
by NaluKnight
Summary: All Katie wanted was a tutor, she got much more. (original story, experimental fic)


**Hey readers, this is an original story where I delve into a little experimental project about, a very special friend of mine that, believe it or not, i actually met on this site, go figure lol, she's always been there for me, in her own quirky way, mind you, but it doesnt change her intentions, nor her friendship, which honestly at times i feel i take for granted, because i have never once doubted her confidence in me, nor mine in her, because she is as constant as the sun, always there for you, never asking anything in return, and always giving support, I guess, this story could be called a tribute, but honestly, she wanted a christmas present and well, im just a broke college student so this is the best i can do :)**

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_Fucking math _Katie thought ruefully as she made her way through the halls of her school. She'd just finished having a go at the day's math lecture and it hadn't gone well at all. Now normally she wouldn't care, normally she'd spend class doodling or perhaps plotting ideas for the book she was one day going to write. _No matter what nan says about__ my chances _she thought, she was going to try her hardest to get her stories out there, even if she had to self publish. She didn't seem like an outwardly ambitious person, her friends would say this without doubt, always seeming lackadaisical, never serious about anything but her own quaint hobbies. Yes, they were quaint, in the eyes of others, but to her, if she wasn't enjoying life doing what she liked, well, then there was no damn point to living was there?

Nobody really paid it much attention when she talked about her book ideas, her family never listening seriously, her friends assuming she was talking out of her ass at times. Nevertheless, she was determined about this above all else, and it was part of the reason why she was so anxious. Her dear mother had gotten a little too annoyed at her recent maths grades and declared that if she didn't start improving them, she could kiss goodbye her laptop and her tv privileges, a tactical horror if there ever was one, she wouldn't be able to catch up on the latest anime. Likewise, she couldn't do any writing without her laptop, well she could have a few years ago, but she'd gotten too used to how convenient the technology was. Even in her little corner of West Ireland, change was coming, and coming fast, though it was not always visibly apparent.

Her recent maths grade had been a few points above failing and honestly, Katie thought it was a rather decent grade considering she'd studied for it literally five minutes before the actual exam, but nobody else saw it that way, quite tragic really. She'd thought of asking her friends but they all seemed rather busy these days. They were all in their second to last year of secondary school and the workload was ramping up, especially for the couple of friends she had in the advanced placement classes. That ruled out asking Rachel and Alannah, particularly Rachel who seemed to be glued to the hip to her boyfriend of two months now these days. Katie wasn't annoyed at this, in fact she could care less, Josh was an old friend and so far seemed a good lad for Rachel, only time would tell what would become of them. As for Alannah, she was always busy with theater and whatnot in addition to school.

Katie weighed asking her friend Paul for help. The lad was decently smart but also as lazy as they came; bunking school was a pretty common occurrence for him, how would he treat being a tutor? Probably not well Katie ruminated.

She couldn't ask her best friend either because one, she went to a different school and was in the year below her, and two because she was totally enamored with her boyfriend these days. Katie really did not understand the appeal of a boyfriend, she knew why her friends didn't want to be single, but she couldn't relate to it herself.

Lost in her thoughts Katie almost bumped into her shortest friend, Nicole, "Katie, watch where you're going!" Nicole reproached, "Head lost in the clouds again?"

"No, no, just thinking about what to do about maths. Say you wouldn't happen to know any good tutors do you? Mom's on my back about pulling the grades up a bit."

Nicole shook her head, "No sorry, I could ask around if you wanted though, our history teacher said he was trying to organize a tutoring system last term, I could maybe ask?"

"Yea that would work, thank a bunch Nicool," Katie said, smirking when Nicole pouted at the use of her nickname for her, "lets get on with it then, that bus isn't going to catch itself."

"That makes no sense," Nicole huffed as she ran after Katie who had started to jog outside to board the school bus.

As Katie ran she saw a boy that caught her eye, not in a checking out way or anything like that, yuck, no he was, well to put it bluntly, quite a bit darker than almost every other student at the school. He looked South Asian, with big, amber-brown eyes and wavy black hair and skin that was pretty tan, lean build, and he had a pleasant looking face yet he looked rather sullen at the moment. She knew almost everyone at her school by appearance at least, there were only five hundred or so of them, but she'd never seen this boy before. She let the thoughts in her head evaporate as soon as she saw her big bus of freedom that would take her away from this prison-err school, not sparing a second thought about the boy whom she would soon find herself well acquainted with.


End file.
